The National Archives

Archives Sector Workforce Development Strategy

August 2018

## Contents

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................... 3 About this document ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Developing capacity in the Archives Sector .................................................................................................. 5 The Archives Workforce – an overview ......................................................................................................... 6 Strategy – Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Objective 1: Adapting to change .................................................................................................................. 13 Objective 2: Recruiting and retaining talent ............................................................................................... 18 Objective 3: Career and progression opportunities ..................................................................................... 22 Objective 4: Diverse and socially mobile workforce .................................................................................... 27 Objective 5: Skills and training .................................................................................................................... 33 Appendix 1. Methodology and survey respondent profile ........................................................................... 47 Appendix 2. Additional skills scoring charts ............................................................................................... 49 Acknowledgements

The National Archives and Pye Tait Consulting would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to all those who took part in the research and contributed to the development of this strategy. Special thanks go to the following organisations:

Archives and Records Association (ARA) Arts Council England Bank of England Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CCLOA) Creative and Cultural Skills Digital Preservation Coalition East Riding Archives Explore York Libraries and Archives Heritage Lottery Fund Historic Houses Archivists Group Jisc Manchester City Council National Science and Media Museum Norfolk County Council Research Libraries UK (RLUK) The Museums Association The Postal Museum University College London (UCL) University of Plymouth University of Reading University of Southampton Welsh Govt, Museums Archives & Libraries Division Youth Club Archive About this document

This document forms the first Archives Sector Workforce Development Strategy (the strategy). Its purpose is to help foster a skilled, diverse, flexible and confident archives workforce.

The strategy was commissioned by The National Archives and developed by research partner Pye Tait Consulting. This process involved wide-ranging consultation with the archives sector, including roundtable discussion groups, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, and a national workforce survey¹.

The proposals contained in this document are intended for further discussion between The National Archives and key partners, including the Archives and Records Association (ARA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), to define the most effective proposals and agree on implementation.

The strategy is first presented in summary form on pages 8-12, comprising one overarching objective, five strategic objectives and a nested arrangement of 21 tactical objectives. These are explored more fully in subsequent chapters.

¹ Further details about the methodology and development of the Strategy are set out in Appendix 1. Developing capacity in the Archives Sector

In 2017, The National Archives published the Government’s vision for the sector, *Archives Unlocked – Releasing the Potential*. At its heart are three ambitions:

- **Trust** – people and institutions trust the authenticity of archive records, and how they are preserved and presented;
- **Enrichment** – archives enhance and enrich our society intellectually, culturally and economically;
- **Openness** – archives cultivate an open approach to knowledge and are accessible to all.

To deliver these ambitions, *Archives Unlocked – Delivering the Vision* sets out three broad areas of on-going focus:

- **Digital capacity** – to develop the digital capacity of the archive sector to preserve digital records and increase discoverability of the paper and digital archives;
- **Resilience** – to open the sector to new skills and a more diverse workforce, increase income generation capacities, and support innovative service models;
- **Impact** – to develop and expand audiences, pilot approaches to using data and evidence, and influence thinking in the IT, commercial and knowledge sectors.

Crucial to achieving these outcomes is developing capacity in the archives workforce so that managers and staff have:

- sufficient and appropriate knowledge and skills;
- clarity on job roles, entry and progression routes; and
- access to suitable forms of training and professional development. The Archives Workforce – an overview

Research published by ARA and CILIP(^2) estimates that more than 86,000 people work across the UK Information economy. Of these, just under 11,000 (12.7%) are estimated to work in national or local archives settings.

The parameters of the archives sector are difficult to define as job roles exist in a range of settings, including national organisations, local authorities, academic institutions, libraries, museums, non-profit institutions, private businesses and more. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to how archives operate and a variety of reporting lines, role descriptions and job titles exist.

The core role of Archivist requires a postgraduate qualification in the field of archives or records management, and usually one which is recognised by ARA. Paraprofessional roles such as Archive Assistant and Outreach Officer (or equivalent) do not always require qualifications up to degree level, although high demand for limited numbers of vacancies means many recruits are often at least degree-level qualified.

In some organisations, Senior Archivists have supervisory or managerial (including budget management) responsibilities, whereas in other organisations (especially larger archive services) a more defined vertical hierarchy can be found. In local authorities, research undertaken for this strategy suggests that hierarchies appear to be flattening and archival responsibilities broadening and becoming more multi-disciplinary in response to tightening budgets and organisational restructures.

In this strategy the term ‘archives workforce’ is used to encapsulate all those who work in the sector, from professional and paraprofessional staff to those who use IT, HR or maintenance skills to support the ongoing work of archives.

In addition to the numerous roles which exist within the sector, a wide range of titles is now used by employers for the core, professional role of ‘Archivist’ such as ‘Collections Officer’ and ‘Heritage Manager’. This can result in confusion as to the level of qualification and seniority required from the post-holder. This has an impact on recruitment both due to confusion as to the nature of

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(^2) Archives and Records Association (ARA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) (2016) *UK Information Workforce – Sector Factsheets* the role and concern from qualified candidates as to how this role would be seen by future employers.

Existing job profiles published online by career organisations do not always appear to capture the wide range of skills and responsibilities needed by some organisations and settings. This could be based on an assumption that individuals looking to enter these job roles will already possess certain skills as prerequisites, but this could inevitably lead to misconceptions or inaccurate understanding about roles in the sector. Strategy summary

Structure

Drivers of change – grand challenges for archive services

Adapting to technological change Enabling easier access to collections by users and community groups Strengthening collaboration and partnership activities Innovative working

Support Coordination Advice & guidance Training resources Funding Support

Archives Workforce Development Strategy

Overarching objective 5 strategic objectives 21 tactical goals Overarching objective

Develop capacity in the archives workforce so that managers and staff are equipped to deliver sustainable, resilient and forward-thinking archive services that foster trust, enrichment and openness by reflecting the communities they serve, meeting their needs and engaging with wider society.

5 strategic objectives and 21 tactical goals

| 1. Empower the archives workforce to adapt to major drivers of change, including digital technologies. | |---| | 1.1 Support a culture change across the archives sector to embrace and proactively respond to digital technologies, changing user needs, collaboration and innovative working. | | 1.2 Open new pathways to funding to enable archive services to respond to major drivers of change, including support for recruiting permanent roles and recruiting to appropriate skill sets. | | 1.3 Support managers to develop the skills needed to be intelligent clients in the digital sphere. |

| 2. Make it easier for the sector to recruit and retain high quality talent. | |---| | 2.1 Produce template job descriptions and person specifications that managers can adapt, which set out the range of skills, knowledge and behaviours needed of the archive workforce in a changing world. | | 2.2 Encourage more innovative and flexible recruitment options so that strong applicants are encouraged to join the sector. |

### 2.3 Develop national guidance and salary benchmarking information that empower archive managers to put internal cases forward for better pay and physical resources.

### 2.4 Develop training and support for archive leaders to enable them to confidently address the challenges of the sector and equip them to move into senior leadership positions.

### 3. Open up career and progression opportunities in the sector through clearer information, better promotion and targeted support, and develop awareness of the ecology of the workforce, allowing the full range of jobs within the sector to be seen and appreciated.

| 3.1 | Improve awareness and understanding about archive workforce roles and career opportunities among young people (especially those aged 16 onwards in schools), career changers and careers influencers. | | 3.2 | Develop a functional and occupational map for archives to articulate the full scope and parameters of the sector for careers influencers and improve accuracy and consistency of interpretation of roles across the sector. | | 3.3 | Create a central online careers hub to provide tools and support to aid progression and career development opportunities and show the varied careers possible within the wider archives workforce. | | 3.4 | Develop more targeted support tools for mid-career archivists, to help them pursue specialisation/horizontal progression and develop business and leadership skills. This will minimise the risk of stagnation and stimulate the through-flow of new ideas. | 4. **Cultivate a more diverse and socially mobile workforce to enable archive services to better represent their communities.**

| 4.1 | Keep diversity and social mobility at the forefront of discussions in the sector, across all aspects of service delivery including workforce development, improving understanding of the importance of a diverse workforce to the long-term impact of archives. | | 4.2 | Actively promote the benefits of welcoming and inclusive practices across workforce development and all aspects of service delivery through case studies that show how change has been needed, addressed and achieved to the benefit of both the service and the community it serves. | | 4.3 | Develop an appropriate panel/working group to help raise awareness of issues of diversity and representation across the sector and act as a critical friend to The National Archives and partners. | | 4.4 | Develop and promote more varied entry routes to the full range of careers within the sector to improve diversity in both skills and workforce, with an immediate focus on increasing opportunities for people from BAME backgrounds. | | 4.5 | Create effective and well-executed volunteer strategies to harness the impact of volunteers in ways which enhance the work of paid and professional staff. |

5. **Broaden and deepen workforce skills through effective training and professional development opportunities.**

| 5.1 | Develop a cohesive sector-wide professional development strategy, including clear guidance around the nature, amount and impact of recommended annual Continuing Professional Development per annum for different roles in the archives sector. | | 5.2 | Help the archives sector to access a range of flexible training and CPD resources that respond to the grand challenges and critical skills identified through this strategy. | | 5.3 | Work with higher education institutions to ensure that courses offering pathways to archive job roles continuously adapt to address the modern challenges and critical skills needed by employers. | | | | |---|---| | **5.4** | Explore options for a special training and professional development fund for individuals meeting certain criteria, who might not otherwise have the opportunity. | | **5.5** | Grow awareness and understanding of apprenticeships within the archives sector and promote apprenticeships as credible parallel entry pathways to roles in the archives workforce. | | **5.6** | Develop apprenticeship standards for appropriate archive-related job roles and promote the use of existing standards where suitable for roles within the wider workforce. |

The next five chapters examine each of these five strategic objectives in more detail, including underpinning evidence and detailed descriptions of the tactical objectives. Objective 1: Adapting to change

“Archiving is becoming less about being a custodian and more about being an enabler”.

Professional body

The roundtable discussions and stakeholder interviews, and the survey of the archive workforce, both led to four ‘grand challenges’ for workforce development in this sector:

1. Adapting to digital technologies;
2. Enabling easier access to collections by users and community groups;
3. Strengthening collaboration and partnership activities; and
4. Innovative working.

Interestingly, although the themes strongly emerged, the level of importance placed on the ‘grand challenges’ showed more divergence.

The first two of these challenges are considered ‘very important’ by most of the surveyed archives workforce, with the second two areas also considered ‘very’ or ‘quite’ important by the majority (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Importance of the grand challenge areas

| Challenge | Very important | Quite important | Neither important nor unimportant | Not at all important | |------------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------------------------|----------------------| | Adapting to technological change | 80% | 20% | | | | Enabling easier access to collections by users | 52% | 38% | 7% | | | and community groups | | | | | | Strengthening collaboration and partnership | 45% | 42% | 11% | | | activities | | | | | | Innovative working | 44% | 36% | 13% | 3% |

Base range: 227-229 respondents The survey showed that perceived levels of importance placed on these areas are similar across different archive settings, although charities and educational institutions are comparatively less concerned with pursuing innovative ways of working, whilst private businesses are slightly more ambivalent about partnership working. This is likely to be down to businesses having a more competitive, rather than collaborative, ethos to their work.

Participants in the roundtable discussions and the individual stakeholder interviews, which involved participants from related sectors, put greater emphasis on the latter two of these ‘grand challenges’ - particularly noting that it is only through collaboration and innovation that all of these challenges can be met.

This divergence is not significant but does suggest that the challenge of creating the collaborative, innovation-focused landscape which archives must inhabit may be clearer to those external to the sector.

1. Adapting to digital technologies

The National Archives Digital Strategy states “archives around the world are grappling with the digital challenge”. Digital technology is fundamentally changing the nature of the record, and archival practice needs to evolve to ensure archives can still be collected, preserved and made accessible and that the opportunities digital presents are fully exploited. The archives workforce needs to be able to access new skills – including technical skills, as well as strengthening skills such as advocacy and partnership building to ensure they can access the support and resources that digital archiving needs.

Digital archival content – either born-digital or digitised material – is a key challenge for archives. New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), other robotics (including drones), along with Big Data, are changing the way information is gathered and processed.

Digital archiving can create huge amount of records, but being able to deal with these and enable better access and use of these records is considered key to the long-term continuity of services.

Digital archiving requires innovative new approaches and techniques. It also ties in with the theme of collaboration, for example through building stronger links with IT professionals and identifying opportunities for shared use of infrastructure where in-house resources are limited.

Digital skills are being developed within the sector but there may be a limit to the extent that those who have taken the traditional humanities route into the sector can be upskilled in increasingly specialist digital areas. Therefore, the possibility of recruiting to new skillsets must also be explored although this presents particular challenge to small archive services which do not have capacity to support multiple roles. Managers have a particular role within the digital challenge. They are unlikely to need to develop the level of skills and expertise that is needed by digital practitioners but they must develop confidence in recruiting and managing digital specialists and also be able to contract with suppliers and IT professionals when required.

Therefore, managers must be equipped to recognise good digital interventions in a skills development pathway which may be separate from the specialist skills development needed by digital practitioners.

“We cannot continue to perform our role, i.e. collect historically important records to support the business and external research, if we do not get to grips with digital preservation.”

Business

“We don’t have many resources to manage digital records, so we’re vulnerable in that respect. Knowing the specific actions needed is something we don’t feel particularly confident about.”

Charity

2. Enabling easier access to collections by users and community groups

Advances in digital technology mean that archive users increasingly want to be able to access content quickly and easily through electronic channels. These developments present a huge opportunity for archive services. Expert knowledge of digital discovery and digital engagement is growing in importance as a way of drawing in new users and ensuring that the value of archives continues to be demonstrated.

Additionally, archive services need to extend their relevance and appeal to as broad a cross-section of society as possible. Community outreach and engagement activities are therefore important to make services more visible. Expert outreach and engagement, like digital interventions, requires skills which can be developed in archive professionals but which can also be specifically recruited to as part of the workforce. As with digital skills, this development of an archives eco-system may be more available to larger organisations although there is the potential for smaller services to join together to share specialist roles.

3. Strengthening collaboration and partnership activities There are some excellent examples of collaboration and partnership working in archives. For example, one local authority archive service has joined up with universities and other organisations to bring a number of archives together under one umbrella and brand. This has helped to increase visibility of their respective archives, improve relevance to the community, and create a strong combined centre of excellence. In turn this has created opportunities for cross-working (giving staff exposure to other cultural organisations), relationship building, ideas sharing and CPD through master classes.

These types of activities help members of the workforce to enjoy different experiences and enable archive services to become more joined up and accessible to users. Such approaches are welcomed by users of archives who are not necessarily attuned to, or concerned about, geographical boundaries and remits of any one organisation.

4. Innovative working

External funding for archive services is becoming increasingly project based, requiring staff to consider aspects such as ‘impact’ and ‘return on investment’ more carefully when preparing bids.

Limited funding for services in the public sector also means that staff need to become more business-savvy and identify new income-generating opportunities.

There are some concerns that opportunities to innovate can be stifled by lack of time and financial resources. Archive managers need to have the tools and confidence to make businesses cases to senior managers for funding and resources and be able to negotiate successfully.

Implications for archives

All of these factors (and more) are contributing to a gradual change of emphasis from archive services being perceived as purely about managing collections, to being more outward-looking. This means becoming more interpretative and working to improve awareness, access and use of archives by increasingly diverse and digitally-responsive community groups.

Change appears to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, with many archivists working in small organisations and often in quite siloed environments. However, by not adapting, there is a danger that services risk being scaled back by senior business managers who have little awareness of archives and may not recognise their true potential. Cuts to services risk even fewer resources being available to unlock the power of collections, but archivists say they do not always have the tools and confidence to make a strong business case for their continued support and expansion. Therefore developing advocacy skills in senior staff must be a priority for the sector. OBJECTIVE 1.1: Support a culture change across the archives sector to embrace and proactively respond to digital technologies, changing user needs, collaboration and innovative working.

Managers should lead and encourage their workforce to:

- forge new partnerships or make better use of existing collaborations to share ideas, knowledge and best practice, e.g. through leadership networks, use of secondments and implementation of joint projects between networks of archives

- harness and exploit digital technologies to enable archives to better reach out to their communities and encourage the wider use and exploitation of archives

- pursue innovative business models, including income-generating opportunities – involving more upfront cost but offering greater long-term returns.

They should also look to bring new skills into the workforce through targeted recruitment, where necessary.

OBJECTIVE 1.2: Open new pathways to funding to enable archive services to respond to major drivers of change, including support for recruiting permanent roles and recruiting to appropriate skillsets.

The National Archives and partners should continue to advocate the value, impact and outputs of archive services, and to support them to secure adequate resources by building funding skills in the sector, and also by working to develop relationships with funders. Most funding is currently project based and therefore cannot be used for core staff costs so further work is needed to secure funding which can address these vital needs.

Sector leaders must also work to enable senior archives staff to develop the leadership skills required to advocate and build relationships on an individual service level.

OBJECTIVE 1.3: Support managers to develop the skills needed to be intelligent clients in the digital sphere.

Senior staff within archives must be equipped with the skills and confidence they need to be able to effectively run innovative digital services and to speak authoritatively to suppliers and partners about their digital needs. Objective 2: Recruiting and retaining talent

Recruitment

The recruitment picture is varied across the sector depending on the role and geographical area. Managers reported large numbers of highly academically qualified candidates for traditional archival roles, including at entry-level, noting that the ease of recruitment makes it hard to make a case for salary rises (Figure 2).

In contrast, roles which have a strong digital focus receive fewer applications and are more challenging to recruit due to a lack of knowledge and skills in applicants (Figure 3). Recruitment into senior roles from outside the sector or the merging of senior roles within an organisation appears to be increasingly commonplace and can bring new strategic and corporate expertise. However, this can also increase the ‘knowledge gap’ between the archive and its senior leadership. On interview, managers and stakeholders reported that they see few archive professionals move into senior, cross-sectoral roles. This may be due to either lack of confidence or unwillingness to move from specialist archival roles.

**Staff retention**

More than a third of surveyed archives managers (35%) reported that individuals had left the service in the past two years to work for another employer in a similar role. A small minority (10%) reported losses to other sectors or areas of work (Figure 4).

**Figure 3 Reasons for recruitment difficulties**

- Applicants lack the knowledge and skills needed for the role: 26%
- Insufficient applications: 22%
- Applicants lack sufficient relevant experience: 18%
- Applicants lack relevant qualifications: 15%
- Other: 11%
- Unable to offer competitive rates of pay: 8%

Base: 73 respondents

**Figure 4 Have staff left the service in the past 2 years?**

- Yes – left to work for another employer in a similar role: 35%
- Yes – left for other reasons: 20%
- Yes – left to work for another employer in a different sector: 10%
- No: 33%
- Don’t know: 2%

Base: 73 respondents Reasons for staff attrition (from most to least mentioned):

- Nature of the work is not as individuals originally expected
- Pay levels are not competitive
- Work volumes are too high
- Changes have been made to individuals’ responsibilities that they have not been happy with
- Personal circumstances
- Lack of promotion opportunities
- Fixed term contracts ending
- Lack of job flexibility (in terms of working hours)
- Wanting a more challenging role in a more innovative environment.

It was also noted at the roundtable discussions that archive services can find it harder to retain young people in an organisation where there are not many others of a similar age and outlook.

**OBJECTIVE 2.1:** Produce template job descriptions and person specifications that managers can adapt, which set out the range of skills, knowledge and behaviours needed of the archive workforce in a changing world.

This means giving due prominence to the application of digital, collaboration, outreach and other business-related skills that are becoming increasingly important and could help to take archives in new directions. To ensure that expectations are managed, job descriptions should make clear what applicants can expect in terms of progression and professional development opportunities. These should be shared with course leaders from the post-graduate university courses to ensure that new entrants to the sector are equipped with the skills that managers are seeking.

**OBJECTIVE 2.2:** Encourage more innovative and flexible recruitment options so that strong applicants are encouraged to join the sector.

It is important that applicants are not put off joining the sector due to the issue of working hours. Where applicants to public sector roles are looking for full time posts but budgets cannot accommodate this, the use of local networks would enable individuals to work across multiple locations. This will also have the benefit of broadening exposure to different working environments and promote cross-pollination of ideas. OBJECTIVE 2.3: Develop national guidance and salary benchmarking information that empowers archive managers to put internal cases forward for better pay and physical resources.

Access to better pay and workplace conditions will enable archive services to attract and retain the best talent. As responsibilities of archivists change to meet new challenges, it will be important that these changes are reflected in pay levels and also in the workplace conditions of the sector with access to good digital resources (including IT infrastructure becoming ever more essential).

OBJECTIVE 2.4: Develop training and support for archive leaders to enable them to confidently address the challenges of the sector and equip them to move into senior leadership positions.

Growing confidence and skills levels will enable archives professionals to compete more effectively for senior positions, including cross-sectoral roles, thus enabling real understanding of archives to advance to higher levels within organisations. Objective 3: Career and progression opportunities

Career opportunities

“Most young people wouldn’t know the difference between an archivist and a librarian.”

Professional body

Outside of the archives sector there is limited awareness about archive job roles, career opportunities and the level of professional status afforded to these positions. Anecdotal evidence points to poor insight among schools and careers advisers, which can lead to a lack of understanding (or even misconceptions) about the sector. Ultimately, students whose strengths and interests could lend themselves well to a career in archives may never know about the potential opportunities available.

This lack of knowledge also affects adults who may be seeking a career change, even preventing those who may have relevant qualifications for broader roles, such as those in learning and outreach, from seeking these opportunities.

The National Archives in particular has been proactive in engaging school-age children to experience and understand archives, however, this can be harder in other local settings due to various competing pressures on resources.

Three quarters of survey respondents (75%) either strongly/tend to agree that more and better careers information, advice and guidance is needed for young people about working in archives (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Is there a need for more and better careers advice?

- Strongly agree
- Tend to agree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Tend to disagree
- Strongly disagree

Base: 228 respondents The new government policies around technical and vocational qualifications offer a real opportunity to broaden and grow the reach of archives, introducing young people to the potential of an archives career at a younger age and allowing those from a variety of educational backgrounds, and with a different range of skills, to develop a career in the archives workforce. In particular, the opportunity of the cultural heritage pathway T-level (the new technical equivalent to A levels) to make young people who may have a less academic profile aware of archival careers cannot be underestimated.

The archives ecology

As well as seeking younger applicants, the sector needs to remain open to career changers entering later in life who will bring new skills and add to the richness of archive professions. Key aspects here will include being open to flexible working patterns and also broadening awareness of the range of roles available in the archives workforce.

Digital and IT specialists, outreach, education and development professionals all have an important role within archives and it is to the workforce’s detriment if awareness of these roles is not also raised. Movement in many of these roles is likely to be more fluid with individuals coming in and out of the sector at different points within their careers. This can bring welcome new ideas and creativity into the sector.

Several survey respondents were clear that their service is facing a loss of skills and knowledge due to an aging workforce approaching retirement. This makes it especially important to lower the ladder for new talent, offer experiences and improve understanding about what it’s like to work in the sector for new entrants of all ages.

Progression

Within archives, career progression opportunities can be limited, especially within smaller organisations. This can be a challenge when recruiting new talent since individuals may be keen to develop and progress but are unable to do so.

Barriers can impact upon either vertical progression (through promotion opportunities), or horizontal progression (e.g. specialisation or change of role at a similar level). Progression can be stifled by relatively flat or rigid hierarchical structures that can impede promotion on merit. Problems include:

- a lack of time and resources in the working day for training and professional development that encourages members of the workforce to explore areas of interest and potential specialisation • funding cuts and reports of ‘no back-filling of posts’ (especially in many local authorities)

• the relatively small size of archive services (with numerous examples of small teams and solo working)

• low staff turnover at senior levels (with progression often only through ‘dead men’s shoes’)

• career progression opportunities not being built into job descriptions or personal development plans for members of the workforce

• instances of staff being on long term agency contracts.

“Horizontal progression is sometimes achieved through secondment to other teams to gain experience in specialisms outside of archives, but because of the lack of time and resource, it is rare that archivists take up these opportunities.”

Museum/gallery

The ‘archivist’ label hinders movement as it has strong connotations which aren’t associated with contemporary digital roles (e.g. Product Manager, System Manager, Delivery Manager etc.).

National library or archive

Survey respondents were asked to describe the current opportunities for someone working in archives who wants to progress. Almost two thirds (64%) consider vertical promotion opportunities to be either poor or very poor, and almost half (49%) are of the same view about horizontal progression opportunities (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Opportunities for vertical or horizontal progression

There are notable differences by archive setting, with comparatively better opportunities for vertical progression appearing to exist within private businesses (28% saying ‘very good’ or ‘good’) followed by Archives Workforce Development Strategy

educational institutions (18%). The fewest vertical progression opportunities fall within local authorities (only 8% saying ‘very good’ or ‘good’).

Where horizontal progression is concerned, the best opportunities appear to exist within national libraries and archives settings (49% saying ‘very good or ‘good’) followed by charities/non-profit organisations (32%). Local authorities fare better here, with 23% of the view that horizontal progression opportunities are generally good, whilst educational institutions fare least well (down to 20%).

OBJECTIVE 3.1: Improve awareness and understanding about archive workforce roles and career opportunities among young people (especially those aged 16 onwards in schools), career changers and careers influencers.

Archive workforce roles and career opportunities should be more clearly articulated and the sector promoted as an accessible and inspiring place to work. This will help to unlock a wider talent pool and ultimately create a more diverse workforce with a wide range of skills. This should include actively engaging with the creation of the Cultural Heritage T Level pathway.

Promoting the digital, collaborative, outreach and business aspects of archiving will be particularly important, as well as the varied settings in which archives operate. Particular focus should be placed on reaching students and career changers with strengths in IT where these could be valuable for digital archiving.

Awareness-raising should usefully tap into contexts that appeal to young people so they can see how they relate to archiving, for example, through using social media to illustrate how many people are increasingly becoming data creators and curators and how this relates to digital archive skills.

Whilst important to be honest about typical pay levels and strong competition for limited job opportunities, it will also be important to illustrate how skills and knowledge that can be developed in archives can be transferred to other professions.

OBJECTIVE 3.2: Develop a functional and occupational map for archives to articulate the full scope and parameters of the sector for careers influencers and improve accuracy and consistency of interpretation of roles across the sector.

These maps should show a nested arrangement of functions and occupations to illustrate where there may be overlaps between the wider cultural heritage or information management spheres, as well as progression opportunities. These should then be used for national careers guidance, and to enable employers to consider how to organise and structure local services and collaborations.

**OBJECTIVE 3.3:** Create a central online careers hub to provide tools and support to aid progression and career development opportunities and show the varied careers possible within the wider archives workforce.

The careers hub should be designed for use by stakeholders, careers influencers, schools and archive employers. It should include a range of information, advice and tools such as up-to-date job role profiles (e.g. Education Officer) and pen portraits; careers journey maps; progression case studies; and templates that can be used by employers to aid staff personal development discussions.

**OBJECTIVE 3.4:** Develop more targeted support tools for mid-career archivists, to help them pursue specialisation/horizontal progression and develop business and leadership skills, to minimise the risk of stagnation and stimulate the through-flow of new ideas.

This should be supported by a structured culture of continuous professional development (CPD) and The National Archives should work with partners such as ARA to explore options for broadening the take-up of existing CPD programmes and resources, taking account of ARA’s established Competency Framework. Objective 4: Diverse and socially mobile workforce

Diversity

The Public Sector Equality Duty, which applies to many archive services including those within local authorities, education bodies and government bodies, states that organisations must seek to:

- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
- Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The significant diversity found within archive collections and the duty of services to collect material which is truly representative of society makes it important to nurture a similarly diverse workforce to represent those collections and engage effectively with communities.

Bringing in entrants with a broader range of backgrounds will also help to boost skills available in the sector and encourage diversity of talent. However, achieving real diversity in the archive workforce is not simply about encouraging more entrants from more varied backgrounds. The sector must also seek to address barriers which prevent access to all levels, including the most senior, for diverse candidates and build a culture that is open and inclusive.

A range of barriers have been identified as currently stifling workforce diversity and social mobility:

- Previous research by ARA/CILIP(^3) has identified the archives workforce to be more than 95% white and more than 70% female, with new recruits primarily stemming from a humanities education background.
- Relatively poor progression opportunities mean there are limited numbers of jobs advertised, in turn empowering employers to be highly selective, which may enable both conscious and unconscious bias at all levels of recruitment.
- High levels of academic qualifications are both required and prized throughout the archive sector. This reduces the pool of available candidates and also reduces the diversity of recruits.

(^3) ARA/CILIP (2015) *A study of the UK information workforce.* • Lower pay levels within the sector and short-term opportunities benefit those who have access to family support, thus reducing social mobility

• The lack of diversity at all levels within the archives workforce can prevent talented people from believing that they will be able to achieve a successful career in the sector

Whilst low staff turnover can be a positive sign of a relatively stable workforce, stakeholders commented that limited job openings and lack of diversity in the workforce run the risk of archive services becoming somewhat entrenched and inward-looking rather than open to new ideas.

The vast majority of managers responding to the workforce survey (80%) believe it is important to achieve greater workforce diversity in archives, and 78% are of the same view regarding social mobility (Figure 7).

This is considered important for enabling a more dynamic workforce that can bring diverse perspectives to the challenges and opportunities that the sector faces.

Respondents made the point that a more diverse workforce can:

• enable archives to be more reflective and representative of their local communities and society as a whole

• encourage innovation through fresh ideas

• increase skills and diversity of talent • improve engagement with a more diverse range of donors and depositors of collections

• increase visitor numbers

• help the sector to live up to its major ambition of achieving openness to all.

However, improving workforce diversity and social mobility is not going to be easy, especially where job opportunities at all levels are limited and recruiters can easily select from familiar candidates. It will require a major shift in mind-sets and proactive change in recruitment approaches as well as reflection on the paths candidates take, both to achieve archival qualifications and also in early career where candidates from diverse backgrounds can struggle to access opportunities for progression.

“We are a white middle class team. Unfortunately, we do not represent our community.”

Local authority

“I firmly believe that workforce diversity is essential if we are to get more people using archives and thinking they have something to offer.”

Charity

“While diversity would be good, the most important thing is having someone who is capable and committed to doing the job regardless of their background.”

Local authority

Striving towards greater diversity in the workforce is an evolutionary journey and is, therefore, an important long term strategic objective for archives.

To enable this long term objective to be achieved the archive workforce needs to be more open to challenge and to create more opportunities to listen to the experiences of people from minority groups. Policies which seek to address the lack of diversity within archives must be developed with the support and active contribution of people from affected communities and their lived experience must be valued and reflected. Use of volunteers

Half of surveyed managers (56%) say that they use volunteers all the time and a further 26% report doing so often (Figure 8).

Figure 8 Frequency of use of volunteers in archives

However, our survey reveals that almost a third (30%) admit they are under increasing pressure to pass responsibilities to volunteers that would otherwise be undertaken by paid staff. This pressure is formed by the lack of funding and resources to recruit and train additional paid staff.

Where volunteers are used well they undertake less complex tasks, under the supervision of paid staff, thereby freeing up archives staff to action essential professional work. The development and needs of volunteers must also be considered in the planning of programmes, in particular the impact on wellbeing and where good volunteering positively impacts society-wide concerns such as loneliness.

It is thus important to seek ways of highlighting best practice for volunteers and to continue to clearly delineate the roles of volunteers in relation to paid staff. This will help to ensure that the work of volunteers enhances and complements that of paid professionals, whilst also helping and supporting volunteers in terms of how they would like to develop.

OBJECTIVE 4.1: Keep diversity and social mobility at the forefront of discussions in the sector, across all aspects of service delivery including workforce development, improving understanding of the importance of a diverse workforce to the long-term impact of archives.

Encourage senior members of the archives workforce to consider the value that different backgrounds and experience can bring to services—keeping in mind the fundamental questions “is the archive service as diverse as the community it serves?” and “how is this service actively advancing equality of opportunity?”. Create opportunities for those recruiting for the archives workforce to receive unconscious bias training and reflect on how recruitment at all levels could better support diversity.

To support diversity in the workforce, gather and share statistics to show how the profile of the sector changes over time and to stimulate continued thinking in this area.

**OBJECTIVE 4.2:** Actively promote the benefits of welcoming and inclusive practices across workforce development and all aspects of service delivery through case studies that show how change has been needed, addressed and achieved to the benefit of both the service and the community it serves.

Archives that are representative of their communities and which seek to be open and inclusive are often successful services with strong partnerships, active user groups and good relationships with their parent organisation. Using case-studies and best-practice guides to highlight the work they have undertaken will enable other archives to reflect on their own practice and see where they can make positive changes.

**OBJECTIVE 4.3** Develop an appropriate panel/working group to help raise awareness of issues of diversity and representation across the sector and act as a critical friend to The National Archives and partners.

Credible and effective action to increase diversity must be co-created alongside those who are impacted by current barriers within the sector. This panel/working group must therefore be actively involved in reflecting on current practices and developing the policies and broader actions needed to encourage greater diversity at all levels within the archives workforce.

**OBJECTIVE 4.3:** Develop and promote more varied entry routes to the full range of careers with the sector to improve diversity in both skills and workforce, with an immediate focus on increasing opportunities for people from BAME backgrounds.

These should include apprenticeships, internships, volunteer programmes, as well as secondment opportunities for individuals based in other roles in the wider information management sector. This will require strong collaborative working and best use being made of local networks, including professional fellowship schemes.

**OBJECTIVE 4.4:** Create effective and well-executed volunteer strategies to harness the impact of volunteers in ways which enhance the work of paid and professional staff.

Produce guidance and tools for managing volunteers in the archives sector, especially to better meet the needs of volunteers and also tackle the issue of employers being under pressure to perceive volunteers as alternatives to paid staff. Guidance for managers on this topic should cover:

- advertising for and recruiting a diverse pool of volunteers from a range of age groups and backgrounds
- establishing and tapping into volunteers’ motivations and what they value
- articulating ideas for types of activities and projects volunteers could undertake
- Setting boundaries in terms of what volunteers should be reasonably expected to undertake in relation to the activities of paid staff
- managing volunteers, including setting expectations and providing support through training
- assessing the impact of volunteer work
- case studies of the successful use of volunteers
- legal and ethical considerations when using volunteers. Objective 5: Skills and training

Skills

Roundtable participants and interviewees described a number of skills considered to be especially important for the future of archive services. These span a mix of technical and softer (transferable) skills which closely relate to the four grand challenge areas set out in chapter 3, namely: digital technologies; enabling easier access by users; collaboration; and innovative working. Specifically:

- managing ‘born digital’ content in addition to digitisation of analogue records
- strong management and leadership skills to get the most out of the workforce and the archive service as a whole
- community engagement and outreach skills, including oral communication, public speaking and presenting to community groups in their own setting
- presenting, influencing, negotiating and communicating effectively with internal stakeholders, including senior managers
- partnership working, including with other archive settings, in order to share resources and activities
- networking and helping to raise the profile of archives to internal and external stakeholders
- identifying commercial and income-generating opportunities
- fundraising and bid writing, including determining potential impact and likely return on investment, as well as identifying new funding opportunities, e.g. crowd-sourced funding
- facilities management and understanding how changes to a building can affect the content of archives
- procurement skills.

Several roundtable participants and interviewees made the point that it can be common to outsource certain digital aspects of archive services to commercial service providers, such as IT functions. Recruitment of advanced digital roles such as software developers can be prohibitive, therefore, resource sharing between organisations may need to be considered. Several stakeholders mentioned that archivists can feel isolated and lack confidence in developing leadership and management skills. This can affect the ability of services to successfully bid for funding and put a case forward to senior management to sustain or increase spending and resources for archives. The latter in particular requires strong skills in influencing, negotiating, stakeholder management and ‘bigger picture’ thinking. This is made more challenging by the lack of people from the sector reaching those senior positions that could bring greater awareness of archives into decision making without the need for repeated and targeted advocacy.

“There’s a lack of confidence within the sector to step up to management roles. Because so many services have been hollowed out, middle management roles rarely exist and the gap between an archivist and a head of service is now immense.”

Local authority

Survey respondents were asked to rate 44 specific skills on a scale from 1 (very poorly skilled) to 10 (perfectly skilled). They were also asked to rate perceived future demand for those skills over the next two years on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 meant ‘decrease considerably’, 5 meant ‘remain the same’ and 10 meant ‘increase considerably’. By plotting the results on a scatter chart, each skills falls into one of four quadrants (Figure 9 and Table 1):

- bottom left: Low current skill/low future demand
- top left: High current skill/low future demand;
- top right: High current skills/high future demand
- bottom right: Low current skill/high future demand.

The quadrant of greatest concern is bottom right, since these represent future critical skills which are potentially inadequate for what will be needed in the future.

It is important to remember that this is the sector looking in at itself and judging both the level of skills held as a sector at the moment and also the skills believed to be needed in the future. The perspective of the cross-sectoral roundtables and interviews which put a greater emphasis on growing governance and management skills must not be lost and, indeed, may provide a useful counter-balance to the process and record-focused areas highlighted in the survey.

______________________________________________________________________

4 Survey respondents answering in a managerial capacity rated the skills of their workforce, whilst those answering in an individual capacity rated their own skills. The future critical skills for archives fall into three main categories which tie in with the grand challenge areas set out in chapter 3:

- **digital** (aligns with adapting to technological change)
- **stakeholder and community engagement** (aligns with enabling easier access to collections by users and community groups)
- **business and transferrable skills** (aligns with strengthening collaboration and partnership activities).

All three of the above areas tie in with innovative working as a cross-cutting theme.

Additional skills scoring charts filtered for different archive settings are presented in Appendix 2. Figure 9 Skills scoring (all respondents)

Future critical skills (in order of weakest/inadequate)

20 Translating knowledge of digital archiving into services and tools 15 Preserving born digital archives 22 Using digital archiving technologies and techniques 16 Preserving digitised archives 23 Working with digital data structures, file types, applications and systems 19 Keeping on top of the latest developments in digital archiving 21 Understanding digital archiving principles and terminology 24 Articulating the importance of digital archiving, internally and externally 38 Fundraising and bid-writing, including assessing likely return on investment 39 Identifying commercial and income-generating opportunities 34 Developing/sustaining community networks 32 Meeting special needs (physical/intellectual) of users/community groups 37 Influencing and making business cases to senior managers

### Table 1 Skills inventory

| Governance, management and leadership (asked of managers only) | | |---------------------------------------------------------------|---| | 1 Working with aims and objectives | | | 2 Developing and using policies and procedures | | | 3 Managing and using financial and other resources | | | 4 Managing and leading people | | | 5 Understanding/interpreting/complying with regulation and legislation | | | 6 Managing risk and/or business continuity | | | 7 Managing performance and impact | | | Processing and managing archives | | | 8 Archive collections management | | | 9 Acquiring and accessioning of archives | | | 10 Appraisal, retention, selection and disposal of archives | | | 11 Arranging, cataloguing and/or describing archives | | | 12 Enabling access to archives appropriate to the nature of information held | | | 13 Managing and dealing with sensitive collections | | | Preservation | | | 14 Understanding and assessing preservation needs | | | 15 Preserving born digital archives | | | 16 Preserving digitised archives | | | 17 Undertaking processes relating to buildings, environments, security, storage | | | 18 Emergency and continuity planning: prevention, reaction and recovery | | | Digital | | | 19 Keeping on top of the latest developments in digital archiving | | | 20 Translating knowledge of digital archiving into services and tools | | | 21 Understanding digital archiving principles and terminology | | | 22 Using digital archiving technologies and techniques | | | 23 Working with digital data structures, file types, applications and systems | | | 24 Articulating the importance of digital archiving, internally and externally | | | Conserving | | | 25 Assessing the stability and condition of archives and records | | | 26 Identifying and evaluating conservation options and strategies | | | 27 Applying conservation methods | | | 28 Maximising the benefit and long-term value of collections | | | 29 Planning and delivering activities to meet the needs of stakeholders | | | 30 Working effectively in partnership with external stakeholders | | | Stakeholder and community engagement | | | 31 Planning and delivering activities to meet the needs of users/groups | | | 32 Meeting special needs (physical/intellectual) of users/community groups | | | 33 Providing learning and development opportunities for stakeholders and users/groups | | | 34 Developing and sustaining community networks | | | 35 Undertaking community engagement, advocacy and outreach activities | | | 36 Marketing and event planning | | | Business and transferrable skills | | | 37 Influencing and making business cases to senior managers | | | 38 Fundraising and bid-writing, including assessing likely return on investment | | | 39 Identifying commercial and income-generating opportunities | | | 40 Oral communication and presentation skills, including public speaking | | | 41 Procurement skills | | | 42 Developing understanding of the internal/external professional environment | | | 43 Developing specialist knowledge and skills | | | 44 Applying ethics and standards | | Professional development and training

There is strong support across the archives sector for sustaining and continuing to promote high-quality university-based education pathways for working in archives. However, there are calls for greater focus in university courses on digital archiving, leadership development, community engagement and project management.

Non-university based vocational training has yet to develop within the archive sector. However, the government’s focus on technical and work-centred training as shown by both the development of T-levels and trailblazer apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy provides a strong impetus for archive services to look again at the opportunities these would offer.

There appears to be lack of awareness in the sector about Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities, including existing programmes such as those developed by ARA. This issue may be partly due to the somewhat fragmented and disconnected nature of the sector, spanning a range of different settings and subject to different funding and resourcing pressures.

The most commonly reported types of CPD by survey respondents include attendance at conferences and seminars, face-to-face training courses and independent reading (Figure 10).

Total CPD hours undertaken by survey respondents in the previous 12 months are variable. The most common answer (by 36 out of 178 answering this question) is zero hours, the median is 20 hours and the mean is 37 hours. A total of 24 respondents reported more than 100 CPD hours in the previous 12 months.

The three main barriers to training and CPD are cost, time and geographical accessibility of courses. There are some concerns that events are often prohibitively expensive, too London-centric and are scheduled sporadically and often at short notice. Some within the archives workforce say they can be put off joining membership organisations due to the fees involved.

Several survey respondents mentioned holding back from investing in training due to not being convinced about the relevance of courses to their role and the context in which they work. A particular barrier to online training, mentioned at the roundtables and in response to the survey, is the level of IT security set by parent organisations, which can prohibit access to certain online content in the workplace.

“My employer is very supportive but barriers include fitting in training and CPD around day-to-day work and having to make a business case for it. There also isn’t a huge amount available within the sector for mid-career development.”

Charity

“With respect to practical digital preservation skills, it’s very difficult to know where to find training and get help.”

Local authority

“Most CPD seems aimed at early stage career practitioners. There’s less available for those in more senior roles.”

University

Almost all survey respondents (94%) consider it important to have access to more and/or better training and CPD. The vast majority would also like to access more face-to-face (f2f) and/or online courses (Figure 11).

**Figure 11 Importance of training and CPD**

| Category | Very important | Quite important | Neither important nor unimportant | Not very important | Not at all important | |-----------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------|----------------------| | Being able to access more f2f training/CPD | 34% | 53% | 11% | | | | Being able to access more online training/CPD| 39% | 49% | 11% | | | | Having access to better/more relevant training/CPD | 52% | 42% | 6% | | |

Base range: 223-225 respondents OBJECTIVE 5.1: Develop a cohesive sector-wide professional development strategy, including clear guidance around the nature, amount and impact of recommended annual CPD per annum for different roles in the archives sector.

The National Archives should work closely with partners such as ARA, CILIP and Digital Preservation Coalition to capitalise on existing resources and develop a joined-up and agreed stance on CPD. This should focus on what employers really need and result in solutions that are affordable and realistic.

Guidance should be issued to employers and individuals on why the recommended CPD is important, how it can be achieved and logged, as well as clear signposting to a central menu of resources suitable for different roles. Guidance should also make clear where access to certain content requires membership of a professional body.

OBJECTIVE 5.2: Help the archives sector to access a range of flexible training and CPD resources that respond to the grand challenges and critical skills identified through this strategy.

This should initially involve a review of existing training and CPD resources to establish where there are gaps in existing provision, especially for non-members of professional bodies. The National Archives should then work with relevant partners and networks, including leading archives and professional bodies, to develop new provision to plug those gaps and encourage membership of professional bodies to enable access to other protected content.

Particular focus should be placed on improving confidence among archivists in delivering management and leadership duties. This is especially important to enable archives to adapt to change, requiring a strong local vision and coordinated approach to delivering services and making best use of available budgets.

Resources should include a range of face-to-face and online options, including flexible forms of acceptable CPD such as peer-to-peer mentoring and secondment opportunities. It should be centrally coordinated (e.g. through a national extranet) and contain clear information on exactly what is covered, target audience, cost, duration and anticipated outcomes for individuals taking part.

Provision should be of an appropriate length (i.e. not taking individuals out of their role for too long) and easily accessible without geographical restrictions. Regional networks could potentially be empowered to take charge of local delivery. OBJECTIVE 5.3: Work with higher education institutions to ensure that courses offering pathways to archive job roles continuously adapt to address the modern challenges and critical skills needed by employers.

The National Archives, professional bodies and employers should work with universities to ensure that archives courses remain up-to-date and applicants are as fully equipped and prepared as possible. This should go hand-in-hand with a wider range of qualification pathways and professional development opportunities, covered in more detail in chapter 7.

OBJECTIVE 5.4: Explore options for a special training and professional development fund for individuals meeting certain criteria, who might not otherwise have the opportunity.

This should take into account employees on fixed term contracts and/or in geographically remote locations where travel expenses to attend courses could be high. Care should be taken to discourage fixed term contracting being offered purely to attract special funding where permanent roles would otherwise have been advertised.

Apprenticeships

The UK Government is committed to apprenticeships as a high quality pathway to successful careers, and for these opportunities to be available across different sectors of the economy.

Apprenticeships provide a combination of on-the-job and college-based training, leading to industry recognised standards of competence. They can be offered to new or existing employees aged 16 or over, and must last for at least a year. Higher-level or degree apprenticeships are increasingly available for prestigious, academically demanding careers such as the Level 7 Solicitor apprenticeship or the Level 7 Architect apprenticeship which is currently in development.

Apprenticeships are a devolved policy area, following slightly different rules and having different characteristics across the home nations. Employers across the UK with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million contribute to a mandatory apprenticeship levy. This money can only be reclaimed for spending on apprenticeships. Non-levy paying employers in England pay 10% towards the cost of training and assessing apprentices with the government paying the rest. In some circumstances, employers could be eligible for even more funding.

Almost three quarters of survey respondents (71%) consider apprenticeships to be either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ important as part of the education and training landscape for the future archives workforce (Figure 12). Respondents in national libraries and archives settings are most favourable (95% view apprenticeships as important), followed by museums and galleries (80%), local authorities (71%), educational institutions (67%), charities and private businesses (63%).

**Figure 12 Importance of apprenticeships to archives**

| Importance Level | Percentage | |------------------|------------| | Very important | 29% | | Quite important | 14% | | Neither important nor unimportant | 7% | | Not very important | 5% | | Not at all important | 3% | | Don’t know | 42% |

Base: 229 respondents

There are similarly strong levels of agreement (71% overall) that apprenticeships represent a viable education and training pathway for the archives workforce, alongside university education routes (Figure 13). Again, respondents in national libraries and archives settings are most favourable (86% generally agree), followed by museums and galleries (80%), private businesses (72%), educational institutions (70%), charities (58%) and local authorities (66%).

**Figure 13 Apprenticeships as a valuable pathway in archives**

| Agreement Level | Percentage | |-----------------|------------| | Strongly agree | 33% | | Tend to agree | 36% | | Neither agree nor disagree | 8% | | Tend to disagree | 5% | | Strongly disagree | 3% | | Don’t know | 15% |

Base: 228 respondents

Interviewees and survey respondents in favour of apprenticeships for training the archives workforce believe they will be crucial to unlocking a more diverse and socially mobile workforce, particularly for those individuals who are less academically inclined or who may be unable to pursue university education due to affordability issues. Buy-in to apprenticeships for archivists is only seen as possible if the sector is assured that those who have qualified through an apprenticeship route have reached an equal standard to those who have undertaken a postgraduate qualification.

The relevance of apprenticeships to broader careers in the archives ecology is also an important driver for archives with standards to train paraprofessional roles such as archives assistants currently under development. The development of non-archive specific standards, such the standard for a Cultural Learning and Participation Officer, are providing new ways to develop roles which hugely benefit archive services and their audiences but which fall outside of the archives profession itself.

Apprenticeships are also seen as potentially valuable for enabling individuals to gain practical, on-the-job experience in tandem with theoretical knowledge, and enable employers to mould young people to their ways of working and develop strong workplace behaviours alongside relevant knowledge.

“I would like to see a new wave of paraprofessionals being produced via the apprenticeship route. These individuals may then progress to librarian/archivist career paths”

Local authority

“Archiving professionals learn by doing, not by reading about theory. An apprenticeship would produce a far more skilled graduate, readier to take on the unique problem solving opportunities of an actual professional archival position. It also allows for more natural networking with established archivists and not just fellow students.”

University

The main concern associated with apprenticeships for the archive profession is that a tension could be created between academic and vocational entry routes, with different employers favouring particular routes depending on their needs.

In particular, some interviewees and survey respondents are concerned that many archival roles require specialist technical knowledge and a deep understanding and appreciation of the background and history of collections. This, it is felt, make postgraduate education an important entry route for some employers.

Others feel that apprenticeships could lead to a two-tier system, whereby apprentices are unable to progress beyond a certain level due to being insufficiently qualified and knowledgeable. Given that progression opportunities in the sector are already limited, this raises questions as to how apprentice positions could be sustained after the period of training. Several respondents from smaller archives also made the point that they would find it difficult to support an apprentice financially. “An undergraduate degree teaches you skills of analysis, logic, reasoning, research and writing which I feel are essential skills for any archivist. The postgraduate professional qualification in archives teaches you archival theory which I feel is essential to carry out correct professional practice. It would be unfair to qualified archivists who have spent four years gaining qualifications if apprentices could progress to the same jobs without having done so.”

**Local authority**

Given this disquiet, it is clear that the development of an apprenticeship standard to qualify as an archivist would have to include broad cross-sectoral input so that employers could be assured of its quality. The level of apprenticeship considered should also be targeted at level 7 (post-graduate) with a focus on degree apprenticeships, which would include the requirement to complete either the postgraduate diploma or the Master’s qualification, over a longer period of time, as a key part of the apprenticeship.

The most commonly reported barrier to apprenticeship training among survey respondents is a lack of knowledge and awareness, followed by apprenticeships not being perceived as relevant to archives and questions raised relating to the quality of external training provision (Figure 14). The relative prevalence of each of these barriers is similar across different archive settings.

Assuming they had access to relevant apprenticeships, just over half (54%) of archive managers responding to the survey would be very or quite likely to offer them (Figure 15). OBJECTIVE 5.5: Grow awareness and understanding of apprenticeships within the archives sector and promote apprenticeships as credible parallel entry pathways to roles in the archives workforce.

Developing awareness of the role that apprenticeships already play within prestigious and demanding professions and growing knowledge of the government policy on vocational education and training is essential if the archives workforce is to be able to make informed decisions about the role that apprenticeships should play in the future of the profession.

Employers must feel confident that their skills needs can be addressed through apprenticeships and that the high standards expected in archives staff can be achieved through parallel entry routes working alongside established academic paths. Buy-in to apprenticeships among employers will ultimately be important for opening up the sector to a wider talent pool, working towards improved diversity and social mobility in the workforce, and maintaining high standards.

OBJECTIVE 5.6: Develop apprenticeship standards for appropriate archive-related job roles and promote the use of existing standards where suitable for roles within the wider workforce.

The Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) requires that an apprenticeship occupation must cover a recognised stand-alone occupation for which there is a genuine demand in the job market.

The National Archives should therefore work with the IfA and sector bodies such as Creative and Cultural Skills to pursue the development of standards for archive-related job roles for which employers do not always require a postgraduate level qualification. In particular, this should focus on paraprofessional roles such as Archive Assistant (including equivalent titles) and employer groups should be formed to help set the most desirable level (potentially level 3 or degree-level) and to design relevant content in accordance with apprenticeship rules. Appendix 1. Methodology and survey respondent profile

Research and development of the strategy was undertaken independently by Pye Tait Consulting, on behalf of The National Archives, between October 2017 and March 2018.

Two roundtable discussion groups were held in London and York (October/November 2017) attended by a total of 17 key stakeholder organisations.

A total of twelve in-depth telephone interviews were carried out, which in turn informed the development of a national online workforce survey. The survey was open to all staff and managers working in relation to archives in any type of organisation or setting. Certain questions were asked of individuals, whilst others were only relevant to those answering in a managerial capacity, i.e. on behalf of their archive staff.

The survey was hosted by Pye Tait Consulting and the link was distributed by The National Archives through their partners/networks.

The survey achieved 230 responses and a breakdown by archive setting and geographical areas of work are shown in Figures 16 and 17 respectively.

![Figure 16 Archive settings represented in the survey](image-url) A total of 157 survey respondents answered the survey as individuals and 73 answered in a managerial capacity. Appendix 2. Additional skills scoring charts

Figure 18 Skills scoring (national library or archive) Figure 19 Skills scoring (local authority) Figure 20 Skills scoring (educational institutions) Figure 21 Skills scoring (business or corporate) Figure 22 Skills scoring (museum/gallery) Figure 23 Skills scoring (charity, voluntary or non-profit) Figure 24 Skills scoring (others)